Evolution of Christmas Traditions

For this month’s blog, I delved into a couple of centuries-old Christmas traditions and personally found their evolution fascinating. I hope that you enjoy reading about these traditions.

Christmas Tree

Throughout history, evergreens have represented everlasting life. Druid, German, Viking, and Norse people’s beliefs about evergreens centered on the promise of spring and rebirth. The evergreen brought hope into the darkest season. Ancient Romans celebrated the festival of Saturnalia (honoring their god Saturn) on December 17th and decorated their homes with evergreen trees. Ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrew used evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands in their homes as symbols of eternal life. Scandanavians decorated their homes and barns with evergreens to scare away the devil and set up a tree to feed the birds during Christmas. During the Middle Ages (500 to 1500), southern and western Europeans would gather evergreen branches in their homes to ward off feelings of moroseness during the dark, cold winter months while northern and eastern Europeans used the warm glow of candles instead.

When did people begin to bring an evergreen tree into their homes? During the 16th century, Christians performed plays on Adam and Eve Day (December 24th), telling the religious story of creation. The Garden of Eden was represented by a “Paradise tree” hung with apples.

Eventually, the clergy banned the plays. Undeterred, people would secretly set up paradise trees in their homes. Many historians believe the paradise tree to be the precursor to the modern Christmas tree.

Tree decorations first included pine cones, berries, fruit, nuts, roses, tinsel, bells, and wreaths. The first evidence of evergreen trees used in association with Christmas appeared in the Renaissance-era guild halls, where taxes were paid during the 1400’s in Germany. Decorations may have included wafers (made with simple flour paste), apples, gingerbread, wool thread, woven ornaments, pretzels, and sweets. The demand for trees grew so high over these years that laws were passed to lessen the demand. One example occurred In Strasbourg, Germany in 1530 against cutting down pine branches and limiting each household to only one evergreen tree.

With the immigration of colonizers from Europe to North America came their age-old customs and traditions. However, the Christmas tree was not initially widely adopted because of its known ties to pagan beliefs. In fact, in 1659, a Massachusetts law forbade the hanging of decorations on Christmas Day.

References to Christmas trees in American homes date back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries. German immigrants in Texas would decorate with moss, cotton, pecans, red pepper swags, and popcorn. The Christmas tree was introduced in 1781 in Quebec during a Christmas party held for officers at Sorel, Quebec and in 1846, a merchant in Halifax decorated a tree for his German wife with glass ornaments imported from her homeland.

Then in 1848, a sketched image of a Christmas tree with gifts beneath it was published in the Illustrated London News. The image included Queen Victoria, her husband Prince Albert, and several of their children gathered around the tree. By the time Prince Albert died in 1861, Christmas trees were being decorated in hospitals and public spaces across the United Kingdom.

In 1850, a copy of the sketched image of Queen Victoria and her family was included in a winter edition of an American Woman’s magazine, Titled “Godey’s Lady’s Book”. In 1860, the image was reprinted in the magazine and it wasn't long before the Christmas tree was a common tradition across North America.

Larger and larger decorated evergreens appeared in public spaces during the late 1800s. With the advance of electricity, tree lights brought the possibility of a glowing Christmas tree for days on end. Christmas trees became commercially available to the public during the 1930s and artificial trees began being sold in 1964. Evergreens can take 7 - 10 years to grow. With fewer farmers growing and selling them each year, artificial trees quickly rose in popularity. I don’t remember ever having a live Christmas while growing up. Ours was always decorated with silver round ornaments and homemade decorations. When we adopted a family cat, the tinsel was quickly replaced with garlands.

Santa Claus

St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, Sinterklaas, Dun Che Lao Ren (Old Man Christmas), Noel Baba, Papa Gigio, Kris Kringle, etc; he’s known by many different names around the world! Nicholas was born between 250 and 270 in Lycia (now southern Turkey) and became the Bishop of Myra in Ancient Greece (now known as Demre, Turkey). He was raised in a wealthy Greek family and became a Bishop known for his fierce defense of his Catholic faith, anonymous gift-giving, and generosity. Legend says that he would put coins in the shoes of anyone who set them outside their family home.

One day, he chose to support a local family who could not afford a dowry for their oldest daughter and had refused charity. During the years when the Roman Empire ruled, women had no rights and were supported by family until they married. If relatives couldn’t take them in, they were often sold into prostitution. A legend claimed that St. Nicholas tossed a gold coin through the window of the family's home. Others argued that he tossed the coin down the chimney of the home, where it landed in a stocking hanging by the embers of a dying fire to dry. This is quite possibly why stories of St. Nicholas later included hanging stockings by a chimney on Christmas Eve.

St. Nicholas was credited with hundreds of miracles during his lifetime. Stories shared over the centuries including how he calmed storms with prayer, resurrected babies, and helped the poor. As with other saints, the anniversary of their death was celebrated. During the 12th century, nuns in France would make little gifts for children and leave them on the doorsteps of family homes, each with a tag signed “From St. Nicholas” to be discovered the morning of St. Nicholas Day on Dec 6th. St. Nicholas had grown so popular that he survived the Protestant Reformation in Germany during the 16th century when honoring saints became strongly discouraged by the clergy.

In the lyrics of many traditional songs dating back to the Middle Ages, St. Nicholas was accompanied by various helpers or companions. Knecht Ruprecht was St. Nicholas’ companion in Germany as a gift bringer, while in another region of Germany Belsnickel was a common companion. He carried a switch to punish the naughty children and would reward others with cakes or candy from his pockets. In other traditions, the companion would punish the naughty children with a birch rod or carry them off in a sack or basket. Krampus was a companion who resembled a wicked devil who often appeared alone, visiting homes and businesses. Zwarte Piet, also known as Black Pete, was another of St. Nick’s companions. These and many other characters acted as a counterpart to the gift-giver or a strict disciplinarian threatening to punish disobedient children. Recently Zwarte Piet was replaced by Sooty Piet (covered in chimney soot) during celebrations in the Netherlands. The punishment of children ended during the 1960 but the many companions continue as traditions in several areas of Europe.

The Dutch brought St. Nicholas traditions to North America as Sinterklaas in the 17th century. The name was distorted by many in the new land and became Santa Claus. In 1776, the American Revolution adopted Santa Claus as a symbol of the American resistance to British rule. He became an antidote to Christmas celebrated by the British enemy (who had adopted Father Christmas from the Scandinavians) and his fame spread.

In 1809, Washington Irving published a story of the history of New York. Santa Claus was depicted as a saint who appeared in a sailor’s dream of Dutch immigrants settling on the island of Manhattan. The saint promised the settlers that he would visit every year on his airborne sleigh and deliver gifts to the children of the new city by slipping down chimneys.

In 1823, Clement Clark Moore anonymously wrote the famous poem “A Visit From St Nick” for his children (also known by the first line “Twas the Night Before Christmas”) inspired by folk legends of St. Nick from Europe. The Santa Claus character began to take shape. Around the same time in England, Victorian images of Father Christmas show him dressed all in green and wearing a holly crown. Historians claim that Father Christmas had been inspired by the Scandinavian god, Odin.

Many American authors were inspired by the legend of St. Nicholas while a very famous caricaturist, Thomas Nast, gave readers a more complete image. Over a series of 33 drawings, he transformed St. Nick from a simple peddler to a bearded fellow with a round belly and a sack over his shoulder. In 1875, Louis Prang printed a series of postcards depicting Santa Claus in a red suit. He may not have been the first to use this image but he is credited by many as being the first to invent this costume.

During the late 1800’s, exploration of the world turned to the north and south poles. These mysterious, undocumented regions were great playgrounds for the imaginations of authors. In 1885 writer George Webster created the idea of a toy factory and a home for Santa buried in the snow of the North Pole.

In 1931, Coca-Cola famously broadened its marketing to children. Haddon Sundblom was hired to create a “paunchy, smiling Santa Claus dressed in red, with ruddy cheeks and an elfish look.” By the end of World War II, the new Santa Claus image was well established.

As children, my siblings and I would always ask our dad for socks from his drawer to leave out for Santa and his elves to fill. His socks were larger than ours after all. Leaving a plate of my mom’s baking and a bowl of oats for the reindeer was also a family tradition on Christmas Eve.

References

https://christmastreebrooklyn.com/blogs/news/the-symbolism-of-christmas-tree-decorations#:~:text=Everg reens%20were%20also%20used%20as,represented%20everlasting%20life%20and%20fertility.

https://time.com/5736523/history-of-christmas-trees/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tree#:~:text=The%20Christmas%20tree%20was%20first,lighted% 20candles%20on%20those%20trees.%22 https://www.britannica.com/story/how-did-the-tradition-of-christmas-trees-start

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-19/the-history-of-the-christmas-tree/8106078

https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees https://www.christmastrees.on.ca/index.php?action=display&cat=23&v=27 https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2012/12/01/adam-eve-and-the-christmas-tree

https://www.newsweek.com/christmas-tree-origin-story-pagan-tradition-1254178

https://www.zmescience.com/science/history-articles/origin-christmas-tree-pagan/

https://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/christmas-and-advent/does-the-christmas-tree-have-a-paga n-origin.html https://www.britannica.com/plant/Christmas-tree https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus

https://ckpgtoday.ca/2021/12/16/the-many-miracles-of-saint-nicholas-santas-inspiration/#:~:text=Stories% 20of%20him%20quelling%20storms,actually%20recorded%20by%20his%20contemporaries.

https://www.npr.org/2012/12/25/167977053/just-who-was-the-real-st-nicholas#:~:text=Nicholas%20was% 20a%20real%20man,Trials%20of%20Nicholas%20of%20Myra. https://www.npr.org/2012/12/25/167977053/just-who-was-the-real-st-nicholas#:~:text=Nicholas%20was% 20a%20real%20man,Trials%20of%20Nicholas%20of%20Myra. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Santa-Claus https://www.arkadaslik-yachting.com/blog/saint-nicholas-myra.html#:~:text=After%20returning%20home% 2C%20he%20settled,of%20citizens%20of%20the%20area.